El Camino - The Way #4

El Camino de Santiago de Compostela was the focus of "The Way" - a movie that I viewed  written by Emilio Estevez and starring actor Martin Sheen. It is a moving story of a father and son and of a very special journey. As a deacon whose primary ministry these days is promoting pilgrimages - this movie - opened my eyes to what I would consider one of the ultimate pilgrimage experiences.  While the normal pilgrimages I promote involve traveling to distant lands - Israel and the Holy Land - Italy and The Vatican - involving ten or eleven days - The Way - promotes a walking pilgrimage of some 800 Kilometers (497 miles) that takes anywhere from a minimum of two weeks up to a month or more to complete. It does not feature air-conditioned buses and four-star hotels - rather, gravel paths and inexpensive hostels. It is a pilgrimage walked by some two hundred thousand or so pilgrims yearly - for the past thousand years. It is a journey - not into impressive cathedrals and basilicas - but rather into one's own heart - and the hearts of fellow pilgrims on the way.  It requires special preparation - good hiking boots - stamina - to complete the journey.

Jesus was not unfamiliar with walking - visiting places outside of His home town.  He walked with a purpose - His mission - to spread the Good News to anyone who would listen. He traveled light - He traveled with companions. His walks brought Him to many places and peoples - into the hearts of those who met Him - and even today - into the hearts of people who He never saw. As we walk our own journeys this Lent - we need to walk with intent - with conviction - with honesty - with God. Wherever our travels take us - The Holy Land - The Vatican - The local shopping mall - we walk as modern day disciples - we carry Jesus in our hearts - we share the Good News - we show what modern day disciples look like. May our paths meet one day - on The Way - during this Lenten season. 

Deacon Dale 

El Camino - The Way #3

After we made the decision to commit to this walking pilgrimage there was a lot of things that we had to figure out before we even got too deep into this project.  First was a reasonable time line. Our group pilgrimages were normally 10 or 12 days and except for the spiritual things we led - all else was arranged for us by our travel partners. In order for us to plan this pilgrimage just for the two of us to accomplish that - we had to do a lot of research so we knew what we were getting involved with.  Reading books - searching the internet - joining Camino groups to be able to connect with others who had already walked this pilgrimage took up the first few months of research.  We knew that we would have to do some practice walks with whatever equipment we would need. Living in Illinois - we knew  that we would focus on everything but actual walking due to the snow and cold weather.  Therefore, our first six months of preparation was reading and researching - investigating the required equipment - testing it in home - returning - exchanging - until we were comfortable with our decision. One of the most challenging was finding someone to watch our dog for six weeks. The second - preparing ourselves to live out of a back pack for 6 weeks was another.  For all journeys - spiritual or otherwise - good planning required. 

Screen Shot - The Way 

As we begin Lent - many will know in advance what Lenten observances they will do.  Many others are still investigating.  For those who start immediately with Ash Wednesday - good for them.  For those who have yet to start - no problem - plenty of time.  The goal of Lent is to observe some practice that will help one grow closer to Jesus - develop a better spiritual life.  As with many things - quality versus quantity - the goal.  

*Note: I posted a short video clip in the previous post but some could not view so trying a second time.  Click here >  https://youtu.be/Y3MlI3bVa1I

Deacon Dale 

El Camino - The Way #2

El Camino - Spanish meaning - The Way.  For this Lent my intent is to help lead everyone on a journey from Ash Wednesday through the 40 days of Lent - ending at the celebration of Easter. This journey will follow the journey that my wife and I made in the fall of 2013 - when we did a walking pilgrimage - starting at our home in Illinois to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.  A journey that began in October 2012 and ended in October 2013. The back story - we had been invited by a friend to view the movie starring Martin Sheen called The Way.  At the end my wife turned to me and asked "how would you like to do this?"  I replied  it was only a movie - but turned to the computer to verify - my surprise - to learn that The Way - El Camino de Santiago de Compostela was a legitimate pilgrimage going back a thousand years or more. After some serious discussion - we made the commitment to learn - prepare - execute that pilgrimage.  The video below is a short overview of The Way 

Camino Video Clip

https://youtu.be/Y3MlI3bVa1I   

At that point in time we had already been gaining experience on international travel during the previous thirteen years - selecting places to visit - learning languages - local customs -  travel requirements so we could confidently travel to foreign places - initially just the two of us - then - starting in 2010 leading pilgrimages of groups to Israel - Poland - Italy.  Any undertaking like this takes Faith.  Faith in God - Faith in ourselves - Faith that we would be able to actually do this.  Just as we begin our Lenten journey - all of us pray that we will be able to walk these next days in Faith.

Deacon Dale 

Valentines - How Do You Love?

How do I love thee - let me count the ways.  Easy to do when you are thinking about your spouse - child - parent - loved one.  When we look at those we love - lots of ways to describe them - their attributes - character - cuteness - good - funny qualities.  Without a doubt - very loveable.  In todays scriptures - people much harder to love - lepers - those who are diseased - physical defects - mental issues - older - aged - worn by the ravages of time - wrinkled - people struggling with their very lives - desperately trying to fit in - find happiness in a troubled world. 

All too many people are too quick to cast aside those who do not meet their expectation of beauty - charm - intellect - attractiveness.   Guilty of judging the book by the cover - looking only at the superficial.  Wise people know that physical beauty is only skin deep - the true beauty of an individual so often not visible to the human eye. When God looks at us - He sees deep to the soul - the interior of our being - our minds - hearts - our very spirit - our ability to either love as is - to reject based only on physical appearance. God calls us to love each other based on who we are - inside.  As we quickly approach the Season of Lent - now is a great time to ask ouselves - who do we love and why.

Deacon Dale 

JOB or JOB?

In today's first reading from JOB 7:1-4,6-7 we are told life is a drudgery - a long - never ending chore - a job.  Interestingly JOB also translates as job - something to be done - a task to perform.  As we read further - we come to realize  that none of us really knows the mind of God - what He asks of us - what He can do for us.  Once we begin to understand - grasp His power - the extent of His love - ability to walk with us in our lives - then and only then - can we even begin to comprehend His expansiveness.  None of us will ever truly know the mind of God.

Accepting Jesus as God the Son of God - understanding His ministry to us - helps draw us closer to God - who He is - our relationship to Him. Through prayer - worship - becoming an active disciple of Jesus - helps us to create a connection to God.  Staying connected to Him gives us the strength to continue our journey as a productive disciple of His.

Deacon Dale 

Fighting Fire With Fire

Here we are at the end of January 2021 and not much has changed.  A new president has been put in place and executive orders signed - business as usual.  January is always a month of change - anyone who pays attention to history realizes this.  What is - new - one year is the same - new - as in previous years.  New presidents always cancel what previous presidents declared new - only to be reversed in future years. What is new is old and what was once old becomes new again.  That happens with many of us.  New Years resolutions made with vigor die a slow death very often in the first thirty days.  It is called the cycle of life.  None of us is perfect - a reality that we are called to accept. It has been almost a year since we first learned about the Covid virus - a virus raging around the world like a giant fire. Coping with the pandemic along with all the other issues is like fighting multiple fires - fires that attack from all sides - damaging our lives - relationships - our total well being.

In a few short weeks we will once again celebrate Ash Wednesday and Lent.  In that time we will reflect on our lives - what is good - what is not so good.  We will fast - pray - make sacrificial offerings - in an attempt to make retribution for the things that we have done wrong.  In the time of Lent - in our prayers - we will beg God to send down the Fire of His Holy Spirit - to burn out the sins in our lives - to purify us - to make us whole - clean.  As we do our work - on our lives - we use God's Holy Fire to destroy the fire that has fueled all the negativity that has been destroying our lives - the world.  Just as firefighters use fire to control out of control fires - so we beg God that His Holy Fire do the same in our lives.  Fighting fire with fire - God's way.   Praying that when the smoke clears - we will see a better us - a better world.. 

Deacon Dale

2021 Blessings

May the Lord bless you and your loved ones in 2021.  Even though we are still coping with the pandemic - many blessings will be given to us.  Last year was difficult for all of us - all have had to endure a year of disappointments - financial - spiritual - recreational - educational.  In spite of all this - good things still happened.  Scheduled surgeries - weddings - births - graduations - all went ahead - changed - modified - but still were completed.  Many blessings were received - more blessings went unnoticed - yet God still sent them upon all of us.  

The best blessings from God - other people who entered our lives - those who surprised us with their physical - virtual presence - to encourage us that we could cope - know that we are not alone in this life.  If you are reading this - you have been blessed even if you do not realize it.  You are alive - possibilities abound - so many good things lay ahead.  Praise God for your life - make it worth living.  With God all things are possible.

Deacon Dale 

Christmas 2020 The Celebration That wasn't

This year the normal celebration of Christmas was anything but normal. Travel canceled - church services - canceled - simplified - family gatherings - on hold.  The pandemic that was suppose to be under control - still raging its ugly head - every where.  Needless to say - most likely the biggest disappointment of 2020.  However - there were moments - unmatched in previous years - that managed to bring joy - peace into many lives. 

Jesus told us that He didn't promise us a rose garden - often He reminded us that there would be tests - trials that we would have to endure.  2020 has been a giant trial - test.  He also told us that He would never leave us - that He would be with us constantly - throughout 2020 - time and again - He has proven that.  With God - Jesus - Our Savior all is possible.

Deacon Dale  

Advent Goals

For the first three weeks of Advent we have been asking ourselves - are we ready to meet the Lord when He comes?  If our lives ended today - would we end up in heaven ? If we died today - where would we spend eternity?  For three weeks we have inventoried our lives - looking to our final destination.  Now in the Fourth week of Advent - our focus switches to Jesus - His birth -  what it means to us that God came down from the heavens to live with the very people He created - why He came as an infant - not an adult - why He chose to go through the birthing process - the growing process from child to adult - enduring - embracing the hardships - experiencing life - just as any ordinary human does.  To some these questions - very confusing.  To others - no issue - for a God who exists outside of time - 30 years a drop in the bucket - for we are told (2 Peter 3:8) "with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day",  Simply stated - for God who is eternal - outside of time - it was nothing - a blip in the calendars of the world.  Experiencing life just as His people - what better way to really get to  know them - understand them - understand what our needs were - the temptations we would face - the accomplishments we would experience.  

For with God - nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37) - what He desires for us - what He needs to do to help us - never impossible - knowing that He - Jesus is always at our side - that He fully knows our needs - we go forward as we end Advent - we go to the crib of our Lord - knowing that He is always with us.  In the crib - at our side - holding our hands - together we celebrate Christmas.

Deacon Dale 

Unwrapping Your Cheer

Pink - Rose - Purple - on this Third Sunday of Advent the focus is not on the color of vestments worn at Holy Mass - rather - Joy - Happiness - Hope.  As people of hope we pause and reflect on where we might possibly find moments of joy - cheer - happy events that bring pleasure into our lives.  Advent - unlike Lent - which is a time of penance - is the season in which we reflect and review our lives and what we have accomplished - how good we are. In Advent  - we should focus on how we can improve - become better Christians .  All too often - others - meaning well - lead us on a path of discovery - focusing only on our failures - disappointments - wrapping the good - happy moments - in stories that overshadow any cheerful moments we could remember. 

Rather than focusing on our failures - we need to unwrap everything that is hiding the cheer that is in our life.  With the help of Jesus - we may see our goodness - too often hidden by guilt - anxiety - distractions - placed in front of us by the world.  As Christians we live counter cultural to what the world says is important.  People not things are what helps us unwrap our cheer.  As we continue our Advent journey - may all of us rediscover the cheer in our lives.

Deacon Dale